The Gas Office, 4-14 Cromac Quay, Belfast, BT7 2JD

The Gas Office, Ormeau Road, Belfast

Built circa 1887–88 to designs by Belfast-based architect Robert Watt, and constructed by Robert Corry of Donegall Pass, Belfast, the Gas Office is a freestanding, two-storey (with attic), multi-bay building originally constructed as offices, stores, and a governor room for Belfast Corporation's Ormeau Road Gasworks. It is almost certainly the most architecturally outstanding building of any gasworks in Ireland, and one of the very few such buildings to survive — albeit now in commercial use. It is also of national historical significance as one of the last remaining vestiges of what had been the largest gas undertaking in Ireland.

The building is prominently sited with its principal elevation facing west onto Ormeau Road, just south of where the road crosses the now-culverted Blackstaff River. For its considerable length, the building is remarkably narrow, and it is dominated by a substantial clock tower at its south end. The building has group value with the nearby meter house and Klondyke Building, which also survive on the former gasworks site.

Origins and History

The Ormeau Road Gasworks site dates from 1821. Although not the first gas undertaking in Ireland, it became the largest in the country by the mid-19th century. The present Gas Office was built in 1887–88 to replace earlier office buildings along this side of Ormeau Road. A contract dated 27 July 1887, held at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, was agreed between the Corporation and Robert Corry, stipulating completion by 1 May 1888 at a tendered price of £6,875, with all queries to be addressed to Robert Watt. The contract also included the clearance of existing buildings to make way for the new structure. During this period, James Stelfox served as General Manager of the works and oversaw the expansion programme. The bell in the clock tower is inscribed "erected 1888", suggesting Corry fulfilled his contract on time. The finished building appears on the 1901 Ordnance Survey map and subsequent editions. The building's entrance hall features in the 1976 film Betjeman's Belfast, made by John Betjeman. The gasworks closed in the 1980s and the site has since been redeveloped for mixed commercial use. The building was restored by Consarc Design Group in the early 2000s; the south end is occupied by that practice as an architectural office, with the remainder sublet to various commercial enterprises.

Exterior — General Form and Roof

The building is aligned along a north–south axis. Its roof is pitched, covered in natural slate with terracotta ridge tiles. Ogee cast-iron gutters are positioned to the outsides of the blocking walls, with half-round steel gutters to the rear. The roof is divided by raised sandstone firebreaks into four sections.

The northernmost section is set at an acute angle to the main block and has a rounded end, with two slender brick chimneys rising from its eaves. The next section has an eaves gable at its north end on both sides, a ridge chimney at the north end, and an eaves chimney along its west side. The third section is demarcated by eaves gables at each end on both sides. The southernmost section has eaves gables on its west, south, and east elevations around the clock tower, with five eaves chimneys along its west side. There are skylights to the east pitch of the roof.

Exterior — Walls and Ornamental Detail

The walls are of red brick. The street elevations are richly ornamented in contrast to the plain rear elevation. At the base, a shallow brick string course sits above two chamfered stepped base courses. The ground and first floors are separated by a moulded sandstone string course, below which is a moulded and dentillated brick course, and below that a row of moulded brick specials; above it is a moulded sandstone cill course to the first-floor windows. The gutters are carried on a projecting cut sandstone eaves course, below which runs a further line of moulded brick specials. The blocking course is coped with sandstone blocks, which continue along the tops of the raised gable verges. The blocking wall is punctuated by semicircular-headed openings to allow rainwater to discharge from behind the blocking course into the external gutters.

West (Principal) Elevation

The west elevation of the northernmost section is blank at ground-floor level, except for two small segmental-headed recesses containing identical terracotta panels embellished with swirling leaf motifs.

The next section contains the main office doorway and a works' entrance, both set in semicircular-headed openings embellished with terracotta spandrels. The main office opening retains a pair of ornate wrought-iron gates to its porch; a modern glazed doorway has been inserted into the works' entrance. At the far right-hand end of this section is a four-panel door with raised and fielded panels and a semicircular overlight. There are also five recessed terracotta panels at ground-floor level in place of windows, each depicting Belfast's coat of arms and motto — Pro tanto quid retribuamus ("For so much, what shall we repay") — along with winged cherubs and leaf motifs.

The third section has four sets of timber windows in a 4/2 configuration, set in shallow segmental-headed openings. The fourth, southernmost section has an assortment of windows and doors similar to the rest of this elevation, along with three terracotta panels detailed as those in the second section.

The entire first floor has single, paired, and triple sets of one-over-two timber windows. The eaves gables contain single and paired 1/1 sliding sashes.

North Elevation

The north elevation is blank at ground-floor level and has a pair of one-over-two timber windows to the first floor.

East (Rear) Elevation

The east elevation is of plain red brick without embellishment. The northernmost section runs at an angle to the rest of the block. It has large picture windows at both floor levels, inserted into what was originally a single large opening, along with a ground-floor doorway and a 4/4 sash window above. A large cast-iron bracket survives at ground-floor level; this large opening and bracket are almost certainly connected with the telpher overhead railway that formerly ran along the outside of this elevation, carrying buckets loaded with coal from Cromac Wharf to the retort houses elsewhere in the gasworks complex.

The next section has an assortment of openings, some with semicircular heads, others with flat metal lintels containing multi-paned windows and large modern door and window glazed units. The section delineated at both ends by eaves gables has 2x2 windows with semicircular overlights and a central segmental-headed doorway at ground-floor level, the latter containing a pair of semi-glazed panelled doors with overlight. The southernmost section generally has flat metal heads to the ground-floor openings, mostly with modern glazed inserts. Along the full length of the first floor on this elevation are 4/4 sash and one-over-two timber windows in flat and segmental-headed openings respectively. The eaves gables each contain a single 1/1 sash window.

South Gable

The south gable has modest embellishment in the form of two thin moulded brick string courses and a sandstone eaves course to its upper floor. At ground-floor level there is an infilled doorway to the left and two windows to the right with modern inserts and metal security grilles. The first floor has a one-over-two timber window, and the eaves gable contains a 1/1 sash.

Clock Tower

A substantial two-stage clock tower rises from the roof at the south end of the building. Its roof is a tapered octagonal form clad in copper, surmounted by a sandstone ventilator topped with a ball finial. A metal railing runs around a balcony above a moulded sandstone eaves course at the top of the tower, with a metal rainwater downpipe running down the inside.

The upper stage is of octagonal cross-section, each face containing an in-stepped dressed sandstone opening with a timber louvre. The lower stage is of brick and circular cross-section. At the top of this stage are four clock faces, aligned with the four elevations of the main block, each enclosed within a projecting ashlar sandstone surround carried on a moulded corbel. The lower part of this stage has four narrow single-pane windows with sandstone cills and flat heads.

Interior

The interiors are of particular note and remain largely intact following sympathetic conversion to modern office use. The extent of the listed building includes the entrance hall, clock tower, and governor room.

Setting

The original layout of the gasworks included a block of buildings abutting the south gable of the office block, but this was removed when the site was redeveloped to provide the main vehicular entrance. New buildings have since been erected on the ground immediately to the east of the office block.